paying $10 to sleep on the ground. >> i think it is the worst idea ever. this is something that they may have decided to experiment with just to see what it is like. that is terrible, why would you do that? why would you spend $10 to see what it is like to live as a homeless person? i think it is a little condescending, to be honest. melissa: and they need $10 for beer money. >> and you don't have a roof over your head to be homeless. we don't have to pay for anything. melissa: moving on to another living space, stepping up from the last one, check out the apartment. 40 square feet. about 100,000 laborers in hong kong live like this and even to have the city lives and publicly subsidized rent are

still more than they are here in new york city. i am struggling with a lot of facts in that story. tha>> that looks very familiar. >> in new york they tell you it has character and really high ceilings, so it has that. melissa: i cannot even make that up. >> it is layers. levels. melissa: on that note, thanks to both of you. are you working on her oscar predictions for next year? >> i will wait and see what is nominated first. why did he have to touch it at all? melissa: that is all the "money" we have for you, we will see you back here tomorrow. gerri: tonight on "the willis

report." congress and the president detached from reality. why aren't they tackling the real issues like record high gas prices. also, presidents radical new plan for schools. >> you have to look at the research very closely to know what works in pre-k. education and what doesn't work. gerri: one of the countries leading educators is here tonight. a routine checkup causing startling the numbers on the cost of health care. "the willis report" is on the case. ♪ all that and more coming up, but first talk about misplaced priorities. the president obama and congress continue their schoolyard antics, name-calling and count the way decision-making for regular americans are feeling squeezed. rising food prices are hard to miss at the grocery stores.

consumer budgets are stressed to the limit. if you are on fixed income, there isn't a lot of room for t-bones when the prices rocketing. gas prices up almost $0.50 in the last month alone. the average for unleaded gas isn't the highest we have seen but it is the highest we have seen since late february. the government does not count it in the consumer price index. they say prices of gas are too volatile to put into that index, but isn't that the point to measure price changes at every level? the ris right is coming at a bad time because after the first year, every working american got a tax hike in the form of a payroll tax. according to the "wall street journal," that hike took a total of $110 billion out of consumer

hands. and investors are feeling the heat from political paralysis in washington and around the world. the dow down 200 points today, the biggest drop since november. watch out, 401(k). americans adjusting the spending and expectations and all we hear out of washington is how nobody wants to compromise on the silly deadline. for more on this, senior political columnist for the "washington examiner." and peter murray seat economist. you said something interesting in your notes for the show, consumers are on crisis overload. >> absolutely. how many times in the next three years will we hea be here aboute process of doom saying the world will come to an end if this budget line isn't met, yet we have had so many times before. the politicians aren't focusing on those nattering these people could have gotten to the point

that don't care what goes on here. gerri: i think consumers, voters, everybody out there is so tired about hearing about sequester, they cannot even get a lunch date to get together, they cannot agree on anything. is there any insight into all of the name-calling and nastiness? >> i for one don't find the name-calling and nastiness so much. gerri: you are out of step with the rest of the country, we want to see some action. >> this is partly problematic. what kind of action do you want on gasoline prices? gerri: i want to see a budget introduced into congress every year on time. gerripeter, go ahead. >> i can cut imports in half,

slice the price off of a gallon of gasoline. >> that is good policy in the long-term, but in the short term it won't. whatever congress says there is a problem, we will rush in and act, government intervention in the economy makes things worse. gerri: they don't rush for anything, they don't do anything, they only jawboning at the end of the day. >> you're starting to sound like nancy pelosi. >> they rushed into war, into the financial crisis, into all sorts of things. it creates more problems. gerri: i want to give peter some push back now. the profits of doom where your buddies. they call the recessions around here, national association of business economists say the economy will go nowhere this year, probably 2% growth at best, and as they usually do they predict most of that growth will come in the second half.

what do you say? is that really going to happen? is washington standing in the way of this? >> we just increased the payroll tax by $110 billion. increased tax on the wealthy by another 50 billion. that will slice about two percentage points off of gdp with a multiplier effect. the president ran for office in 2008 talk about doing something about domestic energy. the only thing he has done is given us transfer from nowhere to no place. if we started two years ago even drilling for more oil we would have more today and probably gasoline would be a lot cheaper. >> i will praise the president right now, which i rarely do. he has gotten out of the way of fracking. it is the best thing that happened to our country in years, president obama talked about environmentalism but he is smart enough to know he has two

let the market work its way in fracking. >> what about the gulf of mexico? in the atlantic. gerri: before we get too far off the beaten path, i want to bring you back to ask you about this because what would washington debate and getting nowhere on should we have $85 billion worth of cuts in federal government spending and apparently it is not even 85 billion at this point. we are already halfway through the year. iis that going to stop the economy? the president says the time to go to hell in a handbasket. >> if the economy goes to hell in a handbasket is because it is already baked in the cake by virtue of large tax increases and other policies slow growth as early as the fourth quarter of last year. it is not enough to make that kind of difference, but he is

saying its way to blame the republicans for the recession that may already be underway. gerri: will not cut the economy? what will that do to the rest of the country? >> there will be a lot of businesses that will suffer, that have been dependent on government spending. gerri: my heart goes out. >> the broader economy that isn't spending cuts, this is a reduction in spending increases. there will be some ripple effect but in the long run it will be good. gerri: that was a really good debate. thank you for your time, great points, both of you. >> thank you. gerri: when it comes to the sequester fight for the white house and congress both are going over all the wrong things? i will share the results at the end of tonight's show. also in washington, we could have a new treasury secretary as early as wednesday. the senate finance committee

will vote tomorrow on a nomination and will decide whether he will pass despite raising questions about his role during the financial crisis and the bonus he got while he was there. the senate could vote on wednesday and watched "the willis report" tomorrow when i'm joined by the senator chuck grassley from iowa. tomorrow liz claman will sit down with the acting treasury secretary. don't miss that. lots more to come including in a new report on rising health care costs in one of the top educators in the country with middle income students are better situation than lower income. stick around. ♪ (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest

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gerri: president obama's push s drawn mixed reaction over how much it will cost and effectiveness. earlier i spoke with founder of students first author of a new book "radical: fighting to push the students first." why do we need another pre-k. program? >> well, look, you opportunity to ensure more children in particular low income and minority children are in school earlier could be a very positive thing, but as with anything it really depends on the accountability that is attached. if we have children at a younger age enrolled in classrooms with highly effective teachers, think it can make absolutely a huge difference in terms of the school readiness by the time they get into kindergarten. if they are in classrooms were essentially babysitting is going on, we will not see the return

on investment we need. gerri: that is why the studies are sort of on how effective the publicly financed pre-k. programs are because a lot of them show the effectiveness doesn't continue very far at all interested in career. >> that has a lot to do with the effectiveness of the program overall and specifically the teachers in the classroom. when i was in d.c., we extended the pre-k options dramatically and we found there was a wide variety between the quality of education kids are getting in those programs, some of them are excellent. very high benchmarks for what kids were to do and to show that they had grown academically by the end of the year. and other programs who didn't have that level of return. gerri: before you start a brand-new spanking program that will be from sea to shining sea, all states, wouldn't you first reconsider the effectiveness of existing programs that are already out in schools all over

the country? >> i think what would have to be done if you would have to look at the research very clearly to know what works in pre-k education and what doesn't work and you have to set very clear standards about what kinds of programs would need to be setup iset upin order to access the fl funding and also ensure that the program did not meet the standards that our taxpayer dollars were not going to fund those things. gerri: it'll be interesting to see the idea gets anywhere. i want to ask about your book because you have a really interesting conclusion. the kids most at risk in our system may not be low income students but in fact middle clasmiddle-class students, why d that be? >> a lot of what we see is people assuming the problem in public education that we have is just about the minority kids in the inner cities and that actually isn't true at all. if you look at the top u.s. kids

based on income and compare them to the top kids in other countries across the globe, you will see our kids actually ranked 23rd, which is the same rating as the low income kids do. gerri: that is unbelievable, michelle. that is a real newsflash for parents all over the country, what do we do about it? >> we have to make sure their are highly effective teachers in every classroom, parents have options for sending their kids to a high-quality school program and the last thing tied to what we were talking about, making sure we have effective use of taxpayer dollars. a lot of middle and upper middle income households in this country, their kids are going to school everyday, they think they're getting a good education but they actually don't know what kind of return on investment taxpayers are getting. gerri: answer tha answered thatn

could be very difficult. i wanted the degree to which so many teachers are unionized is one of those things drain money out of the system that could be better deployed. >> i think has less to do with the fact teachers are unionized or not unionized that we have these problems. was the issue is as we have lost our policies in place in unionized and non-unionized state to be sure the best interest of the adults is what comes first and foremost rather than what is in the best interest of the books do not kids. gerri: fascinating stuff. hope you come back soon, thank you so much. >> thank you. gerri: still to come, one of the most prominent women in business thinking of stepping down to break the glass ceiling and health care costs out of control and obama could do something to fix the real problems. i will break it all down coming up. we know a place where tossing and turning

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gerri: we spend twice as much on our failed health care system than most nations but doesn't need to be this way. we look at the out-of-control costs.

gerri: imagine this, you are 64 years old and have severe chest pain. mike just called an ambulance. taken for miles emergency room at stanford hospital, which is officially a nonprofit organizatioinstitution. she was told she didn't have a heart attack, just indigestion. the bad news is she was charged $21,000 for the false alarm.

hundred 95 for the ambulance ride, 3000 for the doctors and $17,000 for the hospital. one of the many antidotes on the rats nest. we spend twice as much, we spend twice as much as most nations, 20% of gdp on health care. the story appears this week in "time" magazine. we spend more on health car heae than the next 10 countries combined. more than those combined. u.s. health care spending will probably total $3 trillion this year alone. we think we spent a lot of money cleaning up new york, new jersey, connecticut after hurricane sandy? we spent that much last week on health care. why are costs so out-of-control? the system is run by the sellers of the services, not the consumer. 85 people in an emergency room

for the same treatment and you'll likely get five totally different bills depending on their insurance coverage. the medical establishment is becoming very wealthy under this system. ceos of nonprofit hospitals are pulling down six-figure salaries and the government predicts the 20 fastest occupations are in health care. outspending aerospace and oil and gas sectors. the health care complex has replaced the military-industrial complex as a business with the most political muscle. consumers of health care actually able to shop around for service, maybe they can make a difference. that rarely happens. when you are on a ride on a gurney you don't ask for a price estimate, but maybe we should. prescription drug prices 50% higher than other countries. some market discipline has to be introduced into the system.

currently medicare doesn't even negotiate prices on drugs. two drugs have the same effect, one is five times the price, shouldn't the government choose the cheaper one? i understand, but why can a medicare patient get a free ride or nearly free ride for catastrophic care when those of us without any insurance are unpayable. why is cancer and my nose treatment event for anybody but a medicare enrollee? obama k. did nothing to solve these problems because it focuses on who pays for care rather than how in the heck can we stop the increase in health care prices. that is a problem that needs solving. we will have much more on the health care cost crisis when we are joined. coming up, in a new warning for business travelers. a big night for jennifer lawrence at the moment. but a chivalrous moment by hugh jackman that caught my eye. next. ♪

>> from our fox business studios in new york, here again is gerri willis. gerri: all too often people take a fall on their way up the ladder in life and last night's oscars was no exception. jennifer lawrence in her win was briefly upstaged by her tumble up the stairs to receive her award for best actress. you're looking at it there. did you see the gentleman hugh jackman jump up and try to help her? the actress couldn't have played it off any better. listen to this. >> you guys are just standing up because you feel bad i felt, it is embarrassing. gerri: bringing in an all-star panel to break down the women's headlines.

thank you all, i will start with you. i thought this was so interesting because i thought, and she's only 23 years old, she handled this with such poise. is it because she is young and doesn't know what it could mean, or is she just that smart? >> she is lighthearted, you saw them on the red carpet last night having a lot of fun, she is living in the moment and if there is anyone who is going to have every girl's worst nightmare happen, falling when you're going up a set of stairs, it is her. she played it off well and looks so great at the same time. gerri: julia, i thought this was interesting because this really showed the character of the man in the front row. if you jumped up, what a chivalrous kind of action. what did you make of that? >> absolutely. last night proved no matter what

people think are contrary to popular belief, feminism isn't having that much of an impact in hollywood based on last night's actions of hugh jackman, god bless them. chivalry is not dead, it will not be dead. if a man fell down right in front of me, god bless him, i would reach out and help him. the matter what, chivalry will not be dead no matter what feminists want to believe or what they wish for. gerri: is this about feminism, or what is this about? >> this is common courtesy. if somebody trips, it is kind to help them. gerri: it means they were in a moment, thinking about what was going on and willing to extend it. >> it was very sweet. gerri: and i had to show it today.

i wanted to talk about cheryl sandberg. the possibility she will start a whole new life helping women get into the workforce. what do you make of this, is this a surprise? >> it is not a surprise, she has written this book poised to be an international bestseller. on top of that sh she's on the beginning of what will be leaned in courses and networks to engage women and get them to lean into their ambition and their careers. gerri: to se she said i believef more women lean in, we can change the power structure of our world and expand opportunities. we're all morphing, it will lead to fair treatment for women. do you think that is right? they are better in their souls than men? >> yes, of course. i don't know if i agree with it,

but every good leader just by whether they are men or women have traits and quality they share with others. cheryl sandberg has been doing this for a long time. she started the dinners in silicon valley, this is nothing new for her. she is taking it to a whole new level. she was in politics in the clinton days. she is a pro-trade person. she has a lot of qualities and a leader we would like to see in washington. gerri: i want to ask you this question because despite all the things women have done and all the progress we have seen, which is pretty darn substantial, if you ask me, we have not cracked the ceos. will it change as you get older and grow up under the youngest person on our panel, so have to ask you this question. >> i think the book, to be honest, is based more on emotion

of women in the workforce rather than actual facts, but women choose to work less hours than men in the workforce, which is why me women make less than menn the workforce. the "wall street journal" ha haa great article on this last year, women choose to work less hours than men. if women strive to put more effort into their career or choose to have a stronger career path, we will see more women ceos emerging. gerri: are women not working hard enough? >> i don't even want to go there. they choose -- >> they are working just as hard. gerri: what stands in the way though? why is it not 50-50 for ceos? >> i don't know.

gerri: is it true in your business? >> yes, there are no ceos of any major banks. i wanted a sweet position, so i went out and created it. gerri: i will come back to you and give you a chance to respond. go right ahead. >> the fact of the matter is if we go back and look at "wall street journal" article, women have said they choose to work part-time or less hours than men. if we see more women take a stronger career path, we will see more women ceos emerging. gerri: women take time out to have kids. i want to hear what you have to say about this. >> at the top levels of industry, people choose people to run companies because they are comfortable with that. not necessarily because they are the best person in the room.

they know what to expect. >> this all takes time, right? people are still trying to work their way up the ladder. being a part of more boards. this takes time. is it right? no. we are on a metric based system. if you earn it and work for it, you will get there. women are earning their way up the ladder. gerri: i do not feel like i'm being held back. >> i certainly would love to see more women on wall street and more women in powerful positions on wall street while they are earning $0.77 of every dollar a man earns. 21 fortune 50 500 ceos are female.

>> younger women actually make more than men. they do. because they are entering the workforce and earning more than men. gerri: when we come back, we will talk about that. really appreciate you coming on and being so open with your views, i really appreciate that. great job. when we come back, will another merger mean higher prices? would a new office depot-officemax store would look like. and we are covering your assets with what to look out for next. stay with us. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe

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it's how we make sense of investing. gerri: the bad weather keeps coming for the midsection of the country today. blizzard warnings in effect in kansas and oklahoma. the storm tracking across texas and missouri. national guard units are trying to assist stranded texans as they get another foot of snow in some places. airports are closed, some roads impassable. take a look at this video. visibility near zero. even snowplows are getting stuck. arkansas and louisiana where temperatures are warmer, residents are getting halted by heavy rain and thunderstorms. welcoming me want to think twice before planning your next trip. airlines are trying to raise fares especially for last-minute travelers, but will the price hikes stick?

great to have you back. i'm looking at these numbers and i am not loving it. airfare rising in 2013, up domestically, 8.3% internationally, what is going on here? >> you have a couple of things going on right now. airlines are trying to recoup fuel cost higher than they have been. we have the three megamergers, the fourth one coming, a lot fewer seats. getting airlines more pricing power right now. over the month of january couldn't do it on leisure travelers and business travelers. they were able to raise prices on business travelers loosely defined as anybody taking a trip in the next seven days or so. gerri: last year they tried to raise fares many times and it rarely went through.

>> over a dozen times, only six of those actually went through. trying to recoup costs. they still make profits so like any business, they will try to raise as much as they can. i don't see them having a bunch of success the next few months. closer to summer we will see some rate hikes and much increased pace. gerri: i guess book early, vote often. jetblue taking it a step, what do you mean by that? >> basically what they did, everybody raised prices on business travelers, jetblue sort of outside the mainstream of racing and not raising prices, actually raise prices on leisure travelers as well, but nobody else followed along with that. southwest joined in, any time southwest joined in a hikes, i've never seen a hike that

didn't stick that southwest participated in. gerri: it is a very interesting tip, so many people traveling for business all the time, watch what southwest does. it will really mean something to you and your wallet, right, rick? >> i would say they set the baseline on any given route you may see legacy airlines a little cheaper price especially if it is connecting. the low-cost airlines cost structure has gotten more overtime so they have been raising prices. definitely watch the low-cost airlines. gerri: all of the marriages that have gone on, all of the mergers, will that push fares much higher? speak of the three previous mergers are what is pushing it higher right now. it has nothing to do with it.

oz was a segment on health care, they shop for health care like airline tickets we wouldn't have a problem with health care. gerri: that is a good point. you look like you are in an airport. >> this one behind me, but it is one the screen, i'm not in an airport right now. gerri: appreciated. prices may be going up, but they can still find some deals in airports, the best one for business tonight top five. number five, jfk airport in new york city. i love it, there are several clubs, a big storage, currency exchanges. number four, minneapolis airport. wifi, a fitness walking path, even massage chairs. number three, dallas-fort worth airport. a free travel lounge with workstation, barbershop, a yoga

studio and a pet hotel. number two, chicago o'hare. traveling to the windy city, there's an option to have a hot meal delivered to your waiting area. you will be there for days. also athletic club. and number one is atlanta. according to half of those surveyed, there are suites for sleeping and there is currency exchange. still to come, my two cents more on a tax i agree with. and mergers are popping up all over the place. what's the latest one in retail means for your bottom line. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina,

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gerri: to the nation's biggest office supply chains will merge by year-end. can we expect lower prices from less competition? details next.

gerri: now for the latest developments in a massive bailout and the money still owed. u.s. governments on the rest of the stake in general motors. wtreasury said it will sell it all off by early 2013. the government has recovered about 29 billion of the $49.5 billion taxpayer bailout. only $20 billion in the hole, my friend. no wonder the bigger bailout then aig. the former head of the company is speaking out in a new tell-all book. hank greenberg spoke to charlie

gasparino. in the book, greenberg is critical of the federal reserve. >> they could have left the fed window open for aig. the fed window was open to the arab bank, 29% owned by the libyan central bank. think about that. charlie: right. >> it opened a fed window to them, but not aig. gerri: greenberg is suing the fed saying it was unconstitutional. greenberg was long gone from aig when the risky bets in the housing market caused it to collapse. two of the nation's biggest office supply chains, office depot and officemax, are joining forces. ceos of both companies: the all stock deal a merger of people. what will this mean for consumers, will less competition and higher prices? managing director and strategic research group.

thank you for coming on tonight. >> mergers of equals, but normally less competition means higher fares. the rental car companies have been combining, airlines have been combining. prices have been skyrocketing. in this case because both companies are fighting simply for their own survival, the combination will be the case of lower prices for consumers. gerri: if you're a small business operator and you like going into these stores, ultimately could be good news, but why? that runs contrary to what you would think. >> the brand manufacturers will add more than one viable retailer, so they will be ordering full trucks instead of half-truths, more power and with more power consumers should save 2.5% compared to what they are

typically paying. gerri: office depot, officemax, asked you in the break is it because of amazon? amazon.com will send you stuff for free can we don't have to pay shipping costs, prices are incredibly one point. do you think they are the big gorilla in this market? >> amazon prime is electric avenue laying waste to all the land based retail with shopping centers, shopping mall-based, whether it is the category dominant change, toys "r" us, the future is uncertain, best buy the only one left in consumer electronics. their future is uncertain just like officemax and office depot future was uncertain. had they not combined and even combining amazon can still hit them with tko. gerri: amazon can offer things cheaper and the retailers themselves will buy from amazon

rather than the manufacturer because they can get it cheaper, how is that possible? >> is a great question because amazon will sell margins 0-5% to get more size, scale. more market share, exactly what you are referencing. amazon wins and the rest of the competition gets rationalized, most of which is run off of the retail road. gerri: there is a lot of demand as people have started their own businesses. this has got to be a good category for some of these people other than just amazon. >> it should be, gerri. over 40 billion in retail between the big three. you have many of the direct companies getting into the business, as you are referencing amazon really has the potential to be the ultimate number one player in this category during this decade.

gerri: thank you so much for coming on. thank you so much. all right, on to this day in business history, it is back in 1836 american inventor and industrialist hesitated the first revolver. the design was revolutionary in more ways than one turning handguns into multishot machines. after the first two failed business attempt, he hit the jackpot when i ordered 1000 cold revolvers in 1847. he found the patent firearm manufacturing company and by 1856 the company was producing 150 weapons per day. in his first 25 years of manufacturing company produced 400,000 revolvers. a net worth of $15 million in 1862 worth $340 million today, colt died a wealthy man. they are still in business serving the civilian market.

law enforcement, military and private security markets all over the world. samuel colt patented the revolver 147 years ago today. the answer to our question of the day. when it comes to sequester fights, or the white house and congress focu focused on the wrg thing? stay with us.

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gerri: president obama can say congress can resolve the sequester with a little bit of compromise. we asked on gerriwillis.com. 93% said yes, 7% said no. here are some of your e-mails. paul from new york writes i really believe we will never truly address the debt problems until we address our elected officials pocketbooks.